#he needs some love goddamn it-

[onegianthotmess]

Michael Afton Rants:

💜🥺What I Think Mikey Looks Like🥺💜

(I just wanna say two things. One, I’m talking about Michael Afton from the games, not the one from the movie (but the actor did great as Mike Schmidt, major props to him!) Two, I want to hold this boy and tell him it’s all gonna be okay because he be traumatized AF.)

Okay, now onto what baby Mikey looks like!

It’s a given he looks like William, almost identical to him considering the souls thought Michael was his father. And my man’s is a British boy, so he’s definitely got some pale skin, not quite paper white, but he is fairly pale. His skin is also somehow fucking perfect, tf-? Acne? He doesn’t know her-

I say Mike is tall, definitely around like 6’6 or 6’7. And he’s definitely decently built, too. Like, he’s not jacked jacked, but he does have some decent muscle that is still somehow soft looking. And I picture him with big hands that are rough and calloused, but also have some softness to them despite all of the work he’s done.

Since he does look like William, he’s definitely got some strong features, most notably his nose and face shape with a defined jawline and chin. But Michael does have a few differences from his father, which he likes the most about himself because boy has major ✨DADDY ISSUES✨.

Michael has a slightly fuller lip shape than William, and he doesn’t have his resting bitch face either. His resting face is strangely innocent and curious, major puppy face vibes. His cheeks are more round and soft than his father’s and his baby blue eyes are big, round, and wide in shape and they’re slightly downturned to really give him that puppy face that no one can say no to.

Seriously, Mikey is definitely the guy who looks intimidating from the back due to his height and slight muscle until he turns around and you’re met by the cutest case of puppy face you’ve ever seen!

Also, Mikey is #blessed with some nice long, thick lashes that frame his eyes so well! He even has a set of bottom lashes that make his eyes sort of doll-like and he could actually pull off a convincing disguise as a woman if he tried. I gotta fucking write that-

His favorite feature on himself is probably his eyes overall because people have told him that the baby blue color combined with the shape of his eyes make them look so soft, a stark contrast to his fathers cold, sharp, and unforgiving steel gray eyes that make everyone uneasy.

Don’t even get me started on this boy’s hair-

It is so beautiful!

Boy has practically never had a bad hair day in his life!

His hair is a nice chestnut brown color, with natural highlights of red and blonde. His hair is also slightly wavy and always lays perfectly on his head no matter the time.

EVEN HIS FUCKING BEDHEAD LOOKS GORGEOUS-

Oh, and his hair is so soft!

It’s like he has strands of soft, fluffy silk growing from his head.

I just wanna give this pretty boy a hug! He needs it so badly!

LET ME HUG MY TRAUMATIZED BOY, DAMMIT!

(Let me hold him! I want to comfort his babie boy so bad!)

[fiona-fififi]

Call me homophobic, but I don't actually think it's great representation to stick a complex, dynamic, newly-realized bisexual character permanently with a flat, boring, underdeveloped love interest just because that was the first guy who showed interest.

[rockpaperscissuhs]

BAND OF BROTHERS: EPISODE ONE + my favorite closeup shots

[tobystuck]

[sqtorux]

gojo 'i am a man too' satoru when you keep teasing him about how he's younger than you and makes it his life mission to prove it.

[sihtricfedaraaahvicius]

@mrsarnasdelicious @neonhairspray @sihtricsafin @errruvande @penumbrie @lexeirikrleif @diiickbrainn @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @bubblyabs @dixie-elocin @alexagirlie @stupiddarkkside @urmomsgirlfriend1 @gemini-mama @foxyanon @man-i-be-that-pretty-motherfuckr @thenameswinter99 @m-a-s-h-k-a @superblyzanynight @hernakedmuse @ewanmitchellfanatic @lady-targaryens-world @cosmosnkaz @stronger-than-steel @cheesesandwichsanto

[applestorms]

ok, well. if last time i talked about parallels between near & light, i guess it’s only fair that this time i talk about parallels between mello & misa. yap central on this blog lately.

the main thing that stands out the most about mello & misa, and the reason why i will forever Defend them and their place in the story, is that in my mind they both function in a similar way on a narrative level: namely, both of them are incredibly active wild-card characters that keep the action going and the story moving forward when the other main characters like light, L, & near start getting too passive.

notably, while i often see this trait praised in mello, usually in the context of a comparative criticism of near for his overly-abundant passivity, i have also seen it used as a criticism of misa's character, that she breaks up the status quo of DN too significantly and thereby makes the story feel less realistic. this last point in particular is an odd argument to make imo, as if anything misa's presence only increases the realism of DN by adding some extra luck/random chance into the story in a way that is ultimately still character-motivated and thus easier for the audience to go along with-- something DN in general is very good at, often introducing elements through pure chance but keeping them grounded in characters enough that you almost don't even notice.

take light meeting naomi misora, for example: the only reason he runs across her at all is because he offers to run an errand for his mom on a bored laundry day, literally stumbling across her right at the exact moment she is divulging important insights she is literally the only person capable of making about kira. yet this moment does not stand out as particularly aggravating or out of place in the story, as ultimately the only reason why light is able to get out of that situation is his own quick thinking and ability to calm himself while under immense pressure, squeezing his way out of a potentially run-ending situation he didn't even know existed moments prior.

(not a fan of that big joel video, if you couldn't tell. lmao.)

point is, mello & misa both fulfill about the same narrative function in the story by being so aggressive in their actions, catching the others off guard even if their plans aren't as well thought out or careful as they could otherwise be. they're both incredibly passionate, dedicated characters as well, tough enough to take the hit when it inevitably comes, and in my opinion neither of them are nearly as stupid as the other MCs like to make them out to be. to some degree, i think both of them are aware of the fact that they can't win at the Mind Game Cold War Bullshit the others are inclined to get involved in, so they instead choose to carve out their own place in the story through sheer perseverance alone.

which, speaking of passion: one of the most interesting parallels i think you can make between mello & misa is the ways in which they idolize their respective heroes, misa's obviously being light while mello's is L. allow me to elaborate.

as this post points out, DN has some very interesting use of its religious imagery & theming, and in particular its use of christian/catholic gothic imagery in its story and especially its art. however, as op notes, a lot of this is quite superficial, ascribing to an aesthetic of "kitschy Catholicism," that was characteristic of a lot of early 2000s japanese goth style. yet, while i admit that a more serious consideration of religious elements in the art & story could add some interesting flavor to the story, i also think that, regardless of intention, the superficiality of DN's religious elements works really well in the context of this particular story. as i stated in my tags on that post: light is a superficial god. he is a fake, a scam, some idiot human that stumbled across the powers of a real shinigami and got his head up his ass about it. and a lot of the arcs of other characters in DN is about their reaction to light's claims-- whether they choose to follow him (e.g. misa, mikami), follow somebody else (e.g. mello), or follow nobody at all (e.g. near, also kinda soichiro?), and the implications that has for their lives and personalities.

this is all to say that while you can, on a surface level, connect misa & mello pretty easily as the two aggressive, fashionable blondes of the series, i also think that these somewhat superficial traits betray a greater connection between the two of them. if we understand the christian/catholic elements of misa & mello's fashion as a demonstration of their connection to not just a higher power but a lie, a superficial deity simply reflecting the sunlight of powers greater than himself, then i think we have great insight into another key element of both their characters.

do not forget: in the world of DN, heaven & hell do not exist. at least in the context of death itself, the realm & lore of the shinigami reign supreme, a point which the DN musical makes even more overt: "Isn't it a laugh? / Isn't it a shame? / Thinking there is someone in heaven to blame?" and "Going through the motions / as if there will be a reward / Oh, while we stay eternally bored!" (BEST SONGGG.) everyone is destined for the same fate of MU, the same void of nothingness awaits all. no reward, no punishment, no greater deity looking down upon us than the bored, slothful shinigami, lazing about in their realm and picking people off only when necessary (for the most part).

misa & mello are thus dedicating themselves to false idols, and we can see the negative effects this has on them in almost every facet of their character-- particularly for mello, who is perhaps more self-aware and has more of a mixed emotional outlook on his idol, but maybe even to a more extreme degree for misa. i keep going back to this idea of equating boredom with depression in DN, but where light/L/near are all "bored" in a very quiet, passive, stewing-in-bed late at night kinda way, misa & mello are characteristically a lot more aggressive and intense about it-- while neither of them are super overtly suicidal, necessarily, their actions still betray a distinct lack of care for their own safety or lives, expressing the same thematic sentiment as the others. even if they still don't straight up say it, through their actions they're a lot louder about not liking themselves, and seem to take the problems they see in the world more personally, shouldering the blame as a failure within themselves instead of projecting it outward like the others: e.g. light taking his unhappiness at the emptiness of his life at the start of the story & placing the blame on the world for "going to shit" & humanity's moral failings, versus misa being willing to literally & figuratively give up her life for KIRA the second he demands it, whether that be in the form of shinigami eyes or killing her own friends w/o second thought-- all because he was the only thing to bring justice to her own parents' deaths, an almost undoubtedly traumatizing/horrible experience for her considering how much value she places on KIRA/light afterwards.

to clarify, this is not to say that all of these characters are actually and literally depressed and/or suicidal, though you could certainly make that argument for some/all of them-- this is just one way that i think you could interpret their roles in the plot, and their thematic attachment to the story. even if DN isn't all that interested in considering the True Moral Answer to ethics/the justice system/human society/etc, it definitely takes at least some interest in the emotional viewpoints of characters in relation to those concepts, so i think this is a fair enough approach to take. or to say this another way, it's less about justifying the claim that "the world is shit," and more about trying to understand the emotional motivation & experience of feeling like the world is shit, if that makes sense.

that being said...speaking more on the whole "not liking themselves," thing: even if she doesn't say it aloud often, if ever, i think that misa is deeply aware of the fact that she was not supposed to live this long, that her existence at all is a pure stroke of luck that let her live on past her destined date. she dedicates herself to light so fully, not even necessarily expecting reciprocation (though she at least reserves herself the possibility of such), because being a disciple to her god at least gives her life some kind of purpose. similarly, i think mello is also aware of just how out of reach the one thing he wants is, how his desperation in and of itself is ironically the one thing keeping him from surpassing near and truly being #1. it's important to note that pre-time skip misa & post-skip mello are almost exactly the same age, around 20 years old at the time of their main arcs. they're immature, and in the case of mello especially, are lashing out at the world in whatever way they can because they know they don't quite fit into it in the way that they want to or should. regardless of the intent behind it, mello & misa both still make the conscious decision to kill with the DN-- perhaps in a way that still keeps their humanity, at least following near's logic, but it's a decision to end a human life either way.

anyways, going back to my previous point, this "worshiping of false idols," idea has some interesting implications-- for misa & mello yes, but also for L and the ways in which he contrasts again light, as under this logic mello's treatment kind of inherently gives L a similar status as a sort of false god/idol. which-- actually makes a lot of sense? or at the very least, viewing wammy's house as a kind of mystery cult a la the eleusinian mysteries is a neat approach to take. L & light's mutual alienation from humanity fits them both filling a false god status, anyway. also there's another thread of analysis you could follow here where near is instead fit into the role of the person mello is fixated on which AAAAAAAAA has interesting implications but jesus fucking christ, this post is long. some thoughts for another time, i suppose.

[ducksoup17]

I cant believe these live in my house with me

[epicfroggz]

so i’m writing a mcu!matt/616!matt crossover fic (excerpt below :>)

As if on cue, we both tilt our heads at the same angle—because of course we do—and come to the same conclusion. The Spot is gone, for now.

He sighs. “Matt. Can I call you Matt?” Oh, God, there it is. The lawyer voice. I nod, knees weak (definitely due to the bruising and nothing else), and he continues, “Matt. You have a broken nose, you can barely stand, and I probably didn’t help matters when I hit you with this,” he hands me back my billy club as a show of trust, “You’re not going after anyone else tonight. I can’t have you running around my city like this. You’re coming back with me to my place, got it?”

I holster the billy club, sniffling, “Loud and clear.”

“Good. Come on.” A smile tugs at the end of his words.

(there’s some silliness, there’s Lots of angst, and there’s the comfort of someone who experiences the world the way you do… and maybe matt learns to love himself along the way too)

[activate-shadow-of-the-window]

Little bird, where are you going? / I forgot to catch your name

Little bird, where are you going? / Would you mind if I came too?

Little bird, wait a moment / I only just found out your name

Little bird, stay a while / Or at least take me along

Little bird, stay forever / I’m better off because you came

-

A Mumbo and a Grian and a totally normal relationship concerning crime and conformity

-

Lyrics from The Arcadian Wild’s “Little Bird”

[itsybitsybatsyspider]

Hey so I've been *eating up* your TDP au and I looove everything you've made for it!! (The fact that I've finished season 6 yesterday is not helping aaaaa)

May I ask if Valka joins the party? Is she around?

AAAAAAA thank you thank you! Im so glad you enjoy it! It is my current brainrot and i have so many ThoughtsTM about it

And Valka is around......somewhere...... in Xadia.......

When she still lived in Berk she believed that peace was possible with the elves and dragons and did everything she could to convince anyone that they were not bloodthirsty monsters they had to fight. But of course no one believed her.

And so when she got taken by a dragon, after defending it and saving it's life during a raid, she figured that maybe Berk was hopeless and decided to stay in Xadia. (is this a flawed decision?? oh 100%. This action will have consequences in the future ;D)

And now 18 years later, she lives in the Uncharted Forest, helping and healing injured creatures and dragons and giving them a safe haven to reside in. She doesn't get many visitors, mainly because of the boundary spells that are set around her home, but she does get visits from her Sunfire elf friend who drops by from time to time to fill her in on things and ask for her help.

Recently though he's been trying to figure out what's been causing a corruption in the creatures of the region, and asked for her to keep an eye out for anything strange. Aside from that, the only other news Sandy has to share is that there's been a Sunfire elf terrorizing Berk. How strange. :)

[majorasnightmare]

also i never post about it but dirges career path post epilogue utterly delights me. his warlock pact is specifically to find or produce novel information to be witnessed through his eye for his patron, so in return for providing the magic fuel source and after fully deciphering the necromancy of thay, dirge just skips the skeleton and zombies bit of necromancy and gets to the "blurring the veil between life and death" part, and sets about transmuting dead flesh into chimerical abominations animated by necromantic ritual and powered by eldritch strength from beyond the stars. theyre technically soulless, with primitive notochords instead of complex brains, and theyre linked to his will via blood bond, so the risk of having a creation go beserk and kill him is relatively low, and theyre all technically aberrations rather than undead, but despite skirting most moral concerns he can think of (NOT grave robbing OR killing people in baldurs gate! its imported! its not the enslavement of the dead because he doesnt even summon and bind a deceased spirit! theyre not undead theyre abberrations!), the end result is still that most everyone is made profoundly uncomfortable especially because dirge models several features after human anatomy for no real reason other than he likes the look.

but most importantly it means that dirge is TECHNICALLY a healer now, after an entire campaign of being a killing machine, and thats so fucking funny to me because the dark urge healer lines are SO funny. he uses the default durge voice too so they come out really menacing, and hes just out here healing people marcille dungeonmeshi style. dirge holding onto gales severed arm looming closer while gale tries to squirm away to get shadowheart and dirge is just drenched in gore happy to help a friend and gale is praying to every god he can think of because this is legitamate nightmare fuel before dirge is just like "dont worry, ill kiss it better" and forcibly revitalizes and melts the limb back onto gales shoulder, no anaesthesia no painkillers just rawdoggin this shit, reattaching nerves and muscle tendons right there on the street, and gales scream hitting a pitch only perceivable to specific breeds of songbird

worlds worst doctor. youll fully recover but at what fucking cost. walk away with your surgery costs 0 but your therapy bill skyrocketing. dude who got his anatomy training vivisecting kidnapping victims and his medicine proficiency through torture and graverobbing. the only time in his life hes scary on accident rather than on purpose

it goes without saying that minthara takes it like a champ and also thinks his horrible homemade blights upon gods creation is the coolest shit and people should just stop being moralizing losers about it. its also unironically fantastic for his mental health like the fleshwarped blasphemous nightmare creatures are really tangibly improving the state of things for him

[just-sp-in-inginthevoid]

No because wait a bit.

Shio only asks Satsuki to tell people Hibaru and Terasu died, and sure, for people who have them in front of them he isn't going to say that, it's more logical to ask them to kill and act as if they didn't but—

But it's still not Shio who asked for the murders? We don't see him ask for it? It's Satsuki who carries the message – I don't doubt that Shio rather have Hibaru (and Terasu) dead, but it's very much Satsuki who pronounced those exact words.

That doesn't erase the surprise from "but we're brothers"! But it does change the "tell everyone Hibaru and Terasu are no more" to "kill everyone that takes Hibaru's side" and that's not the same thing

It's very oblivious the entire situation is beneficial for Satsuki: he looks like he's pleased with how things turned out, Shio just develops a God complex so he's even more easy to manipulate (if he already wasn't before), and for someone as naturally not charismatic as Satsuki who doesn't look like a fighter and doesn't have an astro giving him a fighting ability, using someone else — someone whom most follow — is the best option. He's the second son, he knows he won't ever be first no matter what in no matter which context, so he takes advantages of it: if he is second, nobody pays attention to him because he's not a direct threat, and if nobody pays attention to him because he's not perceived as a threat then.. he has free rein to manipulate everyone as he pleases. And nobody will ever notice but he'll come out on top.

He's very much more brain than muscles, that's easy to see. I'm just waiting to see how much he manipulates things to place himself in the true position of power and how much Shio knows Satsuki subtlety distorts his words. (Because surely, if he only changes the way it's worded, the way people will understand Shio's intents won't change, right?)

Is it the first time Satsuki subtlety distorts Shio's orders/words in a twisted game of telephone?

[pennedinblood]

as of ten minutes ago we are officially Jobless™️. my sign to retire early and devote the remainder of my existence to writing toxic old man yaoi

[youngpettyqueen]

there is something very sad about Peg just wanting to tell BJ about her day to day life, the mundane things in the house that need to be fixed and the funny things that happen to her, all things he would've enjoyed hearing about or would've handled with her if he'd been there, and having absolutely no idea what effect these letters actually have on him

[in-fair-verona-we-set-our-scene]

Something I really adore about Minthara is she's the only companion--and honestly the only major character really--who truly brings the horror and tragedy of what is being done to the True Souls to the forefront, and reveals just what an awful fate you and the companions avoided by mere chance. Because at that point you're mostly thinking about turning into an illithid and true destruction of the self, not how you would've been a True Soul--but still you--slaughtering your way across the countryside like every other infected.

Because it doesn't matter how good or noble or strong-willed you are. Every companion, from Astarion to Wyll, would've been willing to commit atrocities in the Absolute's name were it not for the Prism.

The way she describes the Absolute is so insidious. How she had no choice, or more accurately her mind had been warped to the point that whatever the Absolute wanted was the best choice she could ever make. Minthara is Minthara, she expresses absolutely no shame for some truly horrid things and proudly claims evil actions taken in the name of survival or faith as her own, and yet what she did under the Absolute's control is what she outright rejects as being in any way her fault. The way Orin tormented her and then it was remembered as something revelatory, divine, rather than a moment of fear and violation, is so fucked up. Minthara is such a genuinely proud woman, so seeing her so affected and her declaration that she'd rather die than have her mind and agency stolen again, is very disturbing.

There are a few moments where the True Souls get a bit of narrative sympathy and humanity. Those siblings outside of the Grove for example. But Minthara is the one who truly brings home how every True Soul is a person who has been taken and violated and exploited with no real say or ability to resist. They are victims and their Chosen-ness is almost a mocking parody of the relationship between the gods (Bhaal, Myrkul, Bane, Shar, Mystra, Vlaakith) and their Chosen (Durge and Orin, Ketheric, Gortash, Shadowheart, Gale, Lae'zel) where the entire farce and delusion of it is laid out for us to see. At the very least the vampire spawn have some sort of will outside of their master, the True Souls don't even get that. And you still have to kill them.

Very fitting for the tragedy-horror theme of the 2nd Act though.